ALBANY -- New York racino operators have banded together in an attempt to block a proposed deal that would allow a Wisconsin tribe to build a long-awaited Catskills casino that, its detractors claim, would cost the state hundreds of millions in lost revenue.

Operators of six of the nine racinos approved in New York -- including Saratoga Casino and Raceway -- wrote to Gov. Andrew Cuomo's administration urging a reconsideration of the "midnight" casino deal, which was approved in the waning days of Gov. David Paterson's tenure.

Leaders of two New York tribes running casinos, the Oneida's Ray Halbritter and the Seneca's Robert Porter, also have urged Cuomo to back away from the deal with the Stockbridge-Munsee Band of Mohicans. Both leaders objected to the out-of-state tribe getting the right to develop in New York. Halbritter said in an interview that the deal is corrupt and illegal.

Jeff Gural, the operator of two other racinos, said while he wants the project killed, he didn't sign onto the letter out of respect for Paterson and U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer, another advocate for the Stockbridge-Munsee project. Gural said a tribal casino in the Catskills should not be allowed because it would hurt the racing and racino industry too much.

Cuomo and Schumer had no immediate response.

The anti-casino letter was written by lawyer and lobbyist James Featherstonhaugh, a principal of the Saratoga operation. It calls for Cuomo or legislative leaders to halt the federal government's review of the Stockbridge-Munsee project.

The tribe has agreed to end its claim to land in central New York as part of the deal. It said the deal was negotiated in good faith.

Genting New York LLC, the giant Malaysian company that won the right to build a racino at Aqueduct Race Track in Queens, is among the groups pushing for a fiscal impact review. It also controls Monticello Race Track, which operates a racino.

Racino operators say the state will lose $407 million and hundreds of racetrack jobs. Joseph Faraldo, counsel to the Monticello Harness Horsemen's Association, said he agrees with the anti-casino letter.

Gural, owner of Vernon Downs and Tioga Downs, said the letter is a warning that approval of the Catskills project "would be an economic disaster for New York state," he said. Tribal casinos have an edge over racinos because the state gets 70 percent of the take from the Division of Lottery's video lottery terminals, and no more than 25 percent of slot machine cash from Indian casinos.